RICHMOND, Va. -- The Richmond and Henrico Health Departments are expanding who is administering the COVID-19 vaccine.
The expansion comes after an increase in weekly shipments to the Commonwealth.
Richmond and Henrico's Nurse Manager Amy Popovich said with weekly shipments of Moderna and Pfizer vaccine now over 10,000 doses, they are sending half of the vaccine to 20 primary care providers, specialists safety net providers, pharmacists, urgent care facilities, and health systems in Richmond and Henrico. They were previously just sending it to four partners.
Popovich said they picked partners based on their locations and what percentage of the people they serve are currently eligible for the vaccine.
"Our partners are either utilizing our lists or they're reaching out to their existing patients who are vaccine eligible," she said.
Dr. Shantelle Brown, the owner of Hope Pharmacy, has been one of those partners.
"We have patients who walk to the grocery store, they walk to get their prescription needs met. And so to be able to have access to vaccines to provide for the community, has been a win-win for everyone," Dr. Brown said.
While Popovich could not give an exact date for when vaccinations will open up for all those who fall into Phase 1B, she said it would be sometime in March.
"We're ironing out the last of the details of our equity prioritization framework and our distribution plans for this larger phase," she said.
The first 5,000 shot shipment of the new single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be used at a mass vaccination event Monday for seniors.